fencebuster

My accident occurred on May 27. My back is fully healed -- no surgery was required, fortunately. My tibia is still a little bit tender but I am getting ready to go to the tunnel and re-fresh my flying skills and then go get back up in the air. It is definitely tough to go to the DZ and not be jumping, but I have been lucky that I have been able to do the ground training for a number of students and it has made me feel like I was contributing. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

I have been injured three times in this sport -- C-1 went unstable at pull and ended up with 76 stitches under my left arm. Later I hit a fence (hence my moniker "fencebuster") while still a student. No major damage but I broke a couple of ribs and was down for 6 weeks. Most recently, I stalled my canopy at low altitude and crashed and broke L-1. L-2 , L-5 and my tibia. So I used my AFFI rating to be the ground training guy at my DZ until I am healed, in a few more weeks. IT suck not to jump, but participating makes it all worthwhile. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Yeah, I have had some bad dreams but they all followed my hard landing where I broke L-1, L-2, and L-5 and my tibia. I would start to "fall asleep" and as I "fell" I'd re-live my impact with the ground. When I watched reality shows that involved hard iimpact with the ground that also freaked me out. My girlfriend watched it a couple of times and told me it made her want to cry. It just freaked me out when I was trying to sleep. I should be jumping by mid-October! Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Yes. They are dick-heads. Ask Bill Booth what he thinks. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Every prosecutor knows how to drive. Very few know how to fly airplanes and even less have a clue what is involved in being a pilot. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

+1. You did what needed to be done. Jacked up is jacked up. If he figured it out after you talked to him then you did him a solid. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Those Eastern Europeans are dick-heads. Drogue throw before his feet cleared the door; two students to jack up the dive; busting clouds, etc. There is a reason they are known as the third-world. My apologies to my friends from the third world who actually follow rules and do things right, unlike this jacked up place. We'll all harrumph when we read the accident report, eventually. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

+1 Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

+1 Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

And I was damn glad they cared. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

I spend most, but not all of my time on the East Coast. Elsinore rented me gear when I had about 35 jumps and it had an AAD in it and they checked to make sure I had turned it on before I got on the plane, so maybe they were just being safe with a newbie. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Yeah, I am aware of the student requirement -- no news there. But I have not been to a DZ yet that didn't require an AAD and I have been to a bunch. I still think an AAD should be a mandatory part of a jumper's gear. Ash White, a great skydiver, likely would still be alive if he'd had one in his rig (and turned it on). Knowing three friends who are walking around BECAUSE they had an AAD, proves their value to me. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Several months ago we had a student just cleared for self-supervised who had been heads up through CAT E whose rubber loop on the altimeter broke in free fall. The student spent the entire skydive fooling with the altimeter and had a cypres save instead of a funeral. Most, but not all, US DZs require AADs and I personally think that is a good thing. I know two other jumpers who also were saved by an AAD when they lost altitude awareness during a free-flying jump. They are a good thing, and for me a mandatory piece of safety equipment. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Well, you ARE falling. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

I think part of the problem with the completeness of instruction is that some DZs do not pay for an instructor to provide ground training beyond what is required for the FF portion of the skydive. I work at a DZ where AFF-Is are paid for ground training and they are expected to completely explain the CAT training for the CAT that they are teaching. At a boogie this past weekend, I asked numerous jumpers who were going to be in the group exiting first what the spot was and how they would know when to get out of the airplane after the green light came on. The response was less than impressive. Green light means that the pilot has confirmed with ATC that he is about to jumper dump and that ATC has confirmed that they have no observed traffic. It remains up to the individual jumper to make sure that it is appropriate and safe to leave the A/C. I was less than impressed with the answers I received from supposedly A license qualified jumpers. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

grip = grab without reaching after getting on level with your instructor and then driving forward to the Instructor/Coach to take grips. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

if a side by side is a shoulder width apart, we teach to cut away. If a side by side down planes, we teach to cut away. Aside by side is prone to down plane and is much more unstable than a bi-plane. We also teach to fly as gently as possible a bi-plane so as not to create a side by side. All consistent with SIM, and we have seen these procedures work in practice. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

I concur . . . . On a day in which I upsized my "fun" canopy from a Pulse 170 to a Pulse 190, I had a hard landing on my Sabre2 260 loaded at 1.1. In my view, currency, or the lack of it in my case, was a significant cause of the hard landing along with a little complacency about my currency and over-estimation of my abilities. Then a series of mistakes/bad choices and you have a hard landing that could have ended my skydiving. There is no "routine" skydive -- any one of them can kill you. I am just glad that I was on my 260 rather than the 190 as the confluence of canopy flight judgment mistakes and lack of currency came together, as the outcome might have been different. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Excellent. I went to Lost Prairie two years ago and had a great time. Don't get complacent -- I had a hard landing two months ago and I am still down and recovering. 54 year old bodies don't heal like 21 year olds! Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

As a student, after 30 days, you are uncurrent and require a recurrency skydive. Your instructors will decide what they want you to do specifically, but the recurrency requirements for a student are set forth in the SIM. At my DZ, for a self-supervised skydiver, we likely would send the jumper up with an AFFI on a CAT E/Level 7 repeat to assure that the student is able to recover stability in the event of loss of stability and is able to pull on his own. Every jump is a learning experience. Enjoy, and be safe! Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

First jump: 51 years old. The rest is history. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

You'll want to come out Friday after work -- the fun starts on Friday and goes non-stop til Sunday sunset. Look me up and I'll give you the tour. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

Wait for the pilot to tell you what to do. Moving around changes the center of gravity, which can lead to stall/spin accident. If the pilot has not turned on the green light or told you to jump, you should sit, buckle up and prepare to land with the plane. If he's not talking to you, it is probably because something else has his attention and requires him to be focused. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

+1. Go with this advice, my friend. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

I jumped at PSC in Dillingham two years ago. They did have a B license requirement for experienced jumpers. However, I was also on a load where they had an AFF student, so I know they do train AFF students there. The student was also one of their tandem packers, so not sure how that may have played into the equation. They have a student wind waiver. That said, while the view was truly spectacular, the winds are a challenge and the landing area is not real large with buildings and trees all around it. I had about 350 jumps at the time and I found the canopy work to be a challenge. But I did have fun and I made a bunch of jumps on my own gear (at the time it was a Spectre 210 loaded at 1.2:1) Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures